"Getting over someone's death takes time. It's not easy."
Ren stood still at the doorway, under the dim light of the lamp.
"I'm really better," Ren said. "I'm not thinking about that right now. My mind is focused on something else."
Yaina took a long drag from the cigarette and slowly exhaled.
"That something is me, right?"
Ren swallowed with difficulty. His heart was pounding.
"…No, no!"
Yaina interrupted him with a short, bitter laugh.
"I heard you talking with that girl named Miya."
Ren felt the heat rise up his neck as he remembered the whispered conversations with his female friend Miya.
"Sorry about what we said," he murmured, lowering his gaze. "I shouldn't have spoken like that about you."
"No, I understand," Yaina said, crushing the cigarette into the ashtray with a slow movement. "And what your female friend said is true… well, something like that. I don't really love your father. I feel affection for him. He's a completely cheerful and positive man. For some reason, I thought that with him I could see life differently, but that wasn't the case. As you can see, I'm living in a completely depressing way."
Ren took a step forward, drawn by the vulnerability in her voice.
"Why do you feel like that?"
Yaina looked at him with a crooked smile, tilting her head.
"The son of my husband is going to be my psychologist? Seriously?"
"No, I—" Ren stopped, clumsy. "I didn't mean—"
"Relax, it's just a joke," she said, waving her hand. "It's not exactly that. It's just that life has no meaning."
Ren frowned.
Life has no meaning… in what way?
"Life is complicated, and I can understand that, I guess."
"Hahaha, you're right. It's just me, a silly girl who likes to get drunk to face life's conflicts."
"But why do you resort to all those vices to deal with that?"
"It's a way to distract myself, like everyone does," Yaina replied, taking a sip from the bottle. "Everyone has their own way of doing it. I suppose yours is touching yourself."
Ren's eyes widened, his face turning red.
"…Don't say nonsense."
"Sorry, hahaha. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. But Ren, it's ironic and completely pointless, yet it's a necessity for a person. I think that at your age you must have done it many times."
What is Yaina saying? Is she crazy, or shameless for saying such things? Has she done it too? Is that why she speaks so naturally, or did the alcohol just loosen her tongue?
After those thoughts, Yaina kept talking.
"I don't know, Ren. I don't know at what moment I screwed things up. Everything people think about me, I deserve it. I shouldn't have gotten involved with your father. I really feel that you despise me. I can see it in your eyes."
Ren froze completely, like a statue.
"No, that's not true, Yaina. I don't hate you."
Yaina slammed her hand against the table in anger when she heard his answer.
"Don't lie."
Ren got scared, but he didn't step back.
"Yaina, I… well, it's not that—"
"Stop trying to sound nice. Just say it."
Silence for a few seconds.
Until Ren spoke.
"Yes, I hate you. I hate you for being with my father, for being someone who wants to ignore everything. But not only you—I hate my father too, for getting involved with a woman my age." Ren's eyes began to fill with tears. "But I really hate everyone. I hate them. I hate their indifference, their happiness, their freedom to go outside without any fear or insecurity. I hate them."
"…"
Yaina's serious expression, completely focused on Ren, changed into laughter that slowly escaped her.
"Hahaha."
"Are you laughing at me?"
"No. No, I'm not laughing at you. It's just that I managed to see your true self."
Ren smiled faintly.
"So what now? Are you going to be my psychologist?"
"Not really," Yaina murmured, looking at the bottle. "I just wanted to talk to someone."
"Since you moved in, you haven't spoken to me. Why now, and like this?"
"I think you're someone I can talk to," Yaina said, looking straight at him. "You're a good person. I'm not. I think I should leave this place and start over, right? That way you'll have peaceful days, without me and without the cigarette smell you hate so much."
"You're leaving?"
"It makes no sense to stay here," Yaina said, her voice breaking.
"Yaina, I told my father I would take care of you."
"Hahaha. You don't want me here. Remember? I told you I heard everything you said about me with that girl."
"…That's true. But not anymore."
"Why not anymore? Leaving would be the most logical thing. Staying in the house of a boy who sees me as an intruder is very uncomfortable. Besides, your father left me here like a package. I should be with him, not with you."
Yaina stood up, dizzy.
"Yaina, I don't see you as an intruder anymore. Please, you can't leave like this. If you go, I'll be worried about you."
"You're not good, you're a fool," Yaina said, letting out a soft laugh. "If you don't let me leave this place… then I'll go to my bed."
Yaina moved clumsily, swaying. Ren watched in silence. His father's wife no longer seemed to be fully in control of herself. The drunkenness had hit her all at once.
Yaina leaned forward and rested her hands on the table.
"I'm… really tired."
Before she lost her balance and fell to the floor, Ren reacted in time and held her.
Yaina leaned against him.
"Are you okay?" Ren asked nervously.
She lifted her gaze, with a tired smile.
"I really like you, Ren. You should be happy… even if it's with that completely crazy girl."
Without replying, Ren carefully took her to her bedroom and laid her on the bed. He made sure she was fine before turning away.
That was when something caught his attention. On a shelf, there was a photograph. Yaina appeared in it with his father, her mother, and her brother.
All of them were smiling.
But that wasn't what caught his attention the most. It was the handwritten phrase on the photo that said:
My angels.
Chapter 14: A Date for Three